Liberty Drops First Match of the Season at No. 53 Kansas State

The Liberty Lady Flames tennis team saw its three-match winning streak come to an end on Saturday, falling to No. 53 Kansas State, 7-0, at the Body First Tennis and Fitness Center.

The loss drops the Lady Flames to 3-1 on the season, while the Wildcats improve to 3-1 on the year.

For the first time this season, Liberty dropped the doubles point after Kansas State picked up wins in the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Petra Niedermayerova and Amina St. Hill knocked off Liberty's Rebekah Jenkins and Maria Khval, 6-2, while Livia Cirnu and Maria Panaite defeated Belen Rivera and Nicola Wellman, 6-1.

In singles play, the Wildcats notched straight-set wins in each of the six positions. Khval, playing in her first match at the No. 1 spot, fell to No. 42 ranked Niedermayerova, 6-3, 6-0. At No. 2, Iva Bago took the first set from Jenkins, 6-1, and held off the Liberty senior in the second, 7-5.

Kansas State clinched the win with a 6-4, 6-4 win from Panaite over Rivera in the No. 3 position.

The day concluded with a win from St. Hill, 6-1, 6-4, against Yang in the No. 6 spot.

"We played a very good team today," commented Liberty head coach Jeff Maren. "Although our effort was high, our execution was off. We can't do this against this level of opponent. We learned a great deal from this match and are looking forward to reaching for the new bar that we've set for ourselves."

Liberty looks to get back on track tomorrow with a matchup against Kansas. The contest is slated to begin at noon.